Shovel Knight Showdown Multiplayer Battle Mode Revealed

As Yacht Club Games finishes up on the promises of its original Kickstarter campaign for Shovel Knight, the developer has finally revealed the local multiplayer battle expansion set to debut for the title next year — Shovel Knight Showdown.

IGN can exclusively pull back the curtain on Showdown, a series of new modes that allow up to four players to play as one of several characters from the beloved game and compete. But rather than first going into detail, check out 10 minutes of four-player gameplay from the Gem Clash mode below to get an idea of what to expect.

Exit Theatre Mode

Players can compete in either one-on-one duels, in four-player free-for-alls, or as cooperative teams battling against AI. Modes in Shovel Knight Showdown include Gem Clash, Showdown, and a full Story Mode, which is customized to each playable character, offering a series of challenges, minigames, and a new final encounter.

Showdown will feature familiar locations and characters, as well as new stages and new songs. In terms of playable fighters, Showdown will offer over 16 playable characters — you can check out the already revealed ones in the gallery below.

Shovel Knight Showdown Playable Characters

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Black Knight

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Black Knight

Shovel Knight Showdown Playable Characters

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Shovel Knight Showdown will cost $9.99 on its own or be a free update as Treasure Trove and will be made available worldwide next year for Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS4, PC, Xbox One, Mac, Linux, and Wii U. It will not be available on the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita versions.

"Originally we imagined a pared-down, almost minigame-style addendum to Shovel Knight," Yacht Club Games' David D'Angelo told IGN via email. ". It seemed like there was a lot of room to create something unique with a game that combined platforming with combat- something simpler and more frenetic than a fighting game, but more interesting and deep than a no-frills party game."

Shovel Knight Showdown Screenshots

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The Tally screen showing results of the fight! (Multiplayer mode included in the Shovel Knight Showdown DLC.)

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The Tally screen showing results of the fight! (Multiplayer mode included in the Shovel Knight Showdown DLC.)

Shovel Knight Showdown Screenshots

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"One of our main goals for Shovel Knight Showdown is to celebrate the weird and wonderful characters in Shovel Knight. So if you have a favorite character you want to see playable, chances are someone on the development team is championing their inclusion too," D'Angelo continued.

Having played a few matches of Showdown's Gem Clash mode in the preview build seen above, I can say that Showdown's mode offers some fast, frenetic fun that employs familiar Shovel Knight mechanics in an engaging new way. Tussling with human opponents using familiar characters offers for some great unpredictability,

The King Knight campaign was previously announced and follows already-released bonus campaigns Plague of Shadows (featuring Plague Knight) and Specter of Torment (featuring Specter Knight), all of which were stretch goals on the original Shovel Knight Kickstarter campaign, just like the previously unnamed multiplayer mode.

Stay tuned to IGN for more on Shovel Knight this week.

Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's News Editor, who first learned about Shovel Knight by reading and watching about it on IGN. Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.